john kerry won among independents 8 years ago in the battleground states. so this is a big reversal. can the president lose independents that badly and still win? there is a good chance that the independents look different. a lot of them are probably republicans, calling themselves independents because they are disaffected with the party and they are tea partyers. but it is a major shift to see independents, people who call themselves independents not going for president obama. you ask the romney folks and they say, this is a sign of weakness. this says our guy is very much in the mix, despite the battlegrounds. >> greta: steve, which team would you rather be on? >> right now? if you asked me that question before hurricane sandy, i would have said governor romney has the momentum and tell continue. now i think it's much more of a tossup. but picking up on rick's point. if you look at independents, particularly in olie oh the romney campaign team will tell you that the candidate that has won independents in ohio over the last five statewide elections has won